


That's Not How These Things Work

by dl_arah



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ellis is bad a feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Misunderstandings, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, oblivious! ellis, oblivious! ty, what to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 21:27:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10727583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dl_arah/pseuds/dl_arah
Summary: "He was already unhappy waking up, only getting a few hours of sleep, so when he walked out of his room, to see another man in the kitchen, he just about lost it.'Who the fuck are you?'"(or: Ellis is falling in love with his roommates fuck buddy, his best friend has a crush on his roommate, and his live seems to be crumbling at the seams.)





	1. Chapter 1

He was already unhappy waking up, only getting a few hours of sleep, so when he walked out of his room, to see another man in the kitchen, he just about lost it.  
“Who the fuck are you?”  
The boy jumps, black hair bouncing, before he slowly turns around, and sees the annoyance etched into the other’s face.  
“Ty. Why?” he answers, nonchalantly, like he’s truly interested in the reasons behind the question.  
Why? Why?  
He squints, taking in the black, long, long sleeved t-shirt, with hands covered, and half his thighs engulfed.  
Those grey eyes, pale, and seemingly staring into his soul. Those freckles, littering the pale boy’s face.  
Those sweater paws. Those thighs.  
He’s cute.  
But he’s probably also Harrison’s… lover.  
“You are so fucking loud, Sir Ty, and I would like to request to lower the damn volume, because next time I fall asleep, at three a.m., due to your loud moaning, I am waltzing into the room, and castrating you both,” he spits, bringing up an accusing finger to point, angrily, at the boy.  
Ty squints back, grumbling, slightly, curiously cocking his head to the side, before deciding his thoughts are unimportant.  
“Can you tell me where the coffee machine is? I’m not functioning enough to decipher the code of your sentences, and I would really like to inject some expresso into my veins, and-”  
“We don’t have a coffee machine,” he interjects, effectively cutting the small boy off, “I got rid of the last one, after Harrison broke it. We have a French press, though.”  
The desperation that flashed into his face was heart breaking.  
“Those take too long,” Ty whines, tipping his head back, and covering his face with his sleeve-covered hands.  
There’s a tension-filled, pregnant pause, as the blonde boy contemplates his thoughts, and then sighs, giving in.  
“I have a mini-machine in my room.”  
Ty lets his hands down, and looks the blond dead in the eye, and then he growls, predatorily.  
“I already have to do the walk of shame. Please, let me use your coffee machine.”  
The tall boy tilts his head.  
“You don’t even know my name.”  
“This is abuse, I am a tiny twig, let me use your coffee machine, please…”  
“Fine.”  
Swiftly, he leads the truly tiny boy into his room, and goes to his tiny dresser.  
“What is your name, anyway?”  
“Ellis,” he says smiling, now fully awake, senses perked up “go get two mugs from the kitchen cabinet.”  
*  
It' less than two weeks later, the next time Ellis sees Ty.  
"How long does he usually sleep in? He always falls asleep fight after, and doesn't wake up, not once, through the night," Ty asks,  
They're sitting, with Ty on his desk, Ellis on his bed, facing each other. Both have mismatching cups, filled with a crappy watered down version of the Starbucks Coffee that you can get from Publix.  
Neither care anyway.  
"He usually wakes about thirty minutes before his first lecture, and then he comes home and does nothing but work. It's ridiculous, and he's definitely not a morning person, so you don't want to wait up for him."  
Ty giggles a little, a cute tinkle, that reverberates straight into Ellis's chest, making it itch.  
He decides that, though it's severely uncomfortable, he kinda likes it.  
"He seems slightly stressed out lately. He's been calling me a lot more often, too, and I've actually had to turn him down. I feel bad, because he seems slightly depressed."  
Ellis raises his eyebrows.  
"Do you know anything. Just for, like, a heads up, so I don't get myself into anything bad?"  
The blonde shakes his head.  
"It's not really my place to tell. "  
"Oh."  
They drink their coffee's, basking in the quiet hum of the air conditioner.  
"Sorry."  
"Don't be," Ty replies, smiling.  
*  
Ellis learns a few things over the next few mornings, that seem to be getting further and further apart.  
1.) Ty drinks only black coffee. No sugar. No milk. No creamer.  
"But why? It's so nasty like that? Like, scary nasty."  
"It's scares me awake, duh."  
"What a way to enjoy the world."  
2.) He sleeps in nothing but black briefs, and a too big, long sleeved tee shirt.  
"They're deadly comfy, and I'm always freezing cold."  
"But only the demons’ drinks coffee black. Isn't it supposed to be freakishly hot down there?"  
"Yes. And only angels drink milk with coffee seasoning. I guess opposites really do attract, huh?"  
Ellis looks down at his coffee, and ignores the obvious jab at flirting.  
It's wrong. Very wrong.  
The last thing is the worst, because he knows it's just as wrong as flirting.  
3.) Ellis really likes to hear Ty laugh.  
*  
"So what's your major?"  
They've mover to sitting in front of each other, on the bed, usually with a plate of fruit between them, and mugs in hand.  
"Criminal justice. It's tough, but I love it."  
It's true. He does love it, loves the way each offence has a consequence. Like each force has and equal, opposing force pushing back.  
"Stressful."  
The blonde hums in agreement.  
*  
"So this Ty guy. He's Harrison's fucking buddy? And you, um, like his laugh?"  
Ellis can admit, it sounds pretty fucking sketchy, but he swears, it's nothing more.  
"But Ellis, you do this every time."  
"Dane, relax."  
"I don't want you misreading anything, or ruining anything, between Ty and Harrison. I know how soft you are. Like, a marshmallow. You're just as tiny, too. Seriously," Dane teases.  
Ellis growls.  
"Oh, I won't do anything stupid. I promise," He adds after a second thought, "Mother."  
Dane looks up from his phone, and then stands up, speedy quick.  
"Shut up, tiny marshmallow."  
"No, Marion. You can't tell me what to do. And I'm not a tiny marshmallow!"  
"Tiny. Marshmallow."  
Ellis jumps back, and Dane jumps forward, and they both end up on the ground.  
"Are you guys-" Harrison stop dead in his tracks, and Dane jumps up quicker than Ellis thought possible.  
He stands there confused, as Dane shoots him a look, and straightens his cardigan.  
The look, is one filled with nothing but knowing.  
He knows, that Ellis is way too far gone to do anything, or even look back, now.  
*  
He's sitting in bed, listening to music, when the first moan filters through.  
Ellis shuts his eyes and turns his music up, hoping to drown out some of the sounds.  
It doesn't help. Their rooms are across the hall from each other, and Ellis's bed is on the same wall as the door.  
The music doesn't help.  
He doesn't need this.  
He's got a thesis I'm his English due in, he looks down at the time... it's due in just under seven hours.  
He groans, and thinks of the presentation in criminology, due later that day, and  
he's got to finish both, yet here he is, listening to his roommate and fwb, getting it on across the hall, struggling to even concentrate on the lyrics of the song he's listening to.  
He needs to finish.  
But he doesn't think he can.  
No, he knows. He'll get a zero, and he'll fail both classes. They'll kick him out, and he won't have enough money to do them again, and he won't get the education he needs.  
He'll be the drop-out living in the basement of his parents...  
Not even.  
The tears prick at his eyes at the last thought, and fights the urge to pull up the old memories.  
No, I have to finish.  
Another moan.  
No, not now.  
"Harrison!"  
He gives up, and shaking stands up.  
In the bottom drawer of his dresser, underneath the tee shirts, is the photo album.  
When he has it, and is settled back in his bed, he puts on the Playlist of his parents favorite songs, and opens to the first page.  
It's his mom, long blonde hair pulled into a pony tail. There's icing on her nose, and you can faintly see the tiny bump, that would soon become Ellis.  
It's captioned 'Two months pregnant'  
He remembers his mom insisting that they hadn't had a shot gun wedding, when she found out she was pregnant. It had been planned for a half of a year, and they'd wanted to start a family right away.  
It the picture, her smile is just as bright as the sun, and he remembers that smile.  
He flips forward, and then he's at his first birthday, the cliché pose, with him in the high chair, smiling the same smile his mother used to wear.  
His heart pulls, and he flips forward a few pages, to his third birthday, this one shared with Dane. They had met, exactly a year before and shared the same birthday.  
His dad was with both boys, smiling, obviously at his mom.  
Dane's father abandoned Dane and Marion soon after, so Sam, took that role in both boy's lives.  
There's the first day of school, and then later Dane's first day (there's a one year difference.)  
There's Dane and Sam and Ellis, all holding fishing lines, with a small bass on each.  
They were ten and eleven, and it was an exciting day, complete with hotdogs and soda, and mirth filled laughter.  
The more Ellis flips through, the more the happy memories flood, the more the tears fall.  
His first day of middle school, the time he and Dane spent the night in the bouncy house, and Marion and Jessi had both woken them up by jumping.  
The first day of freshman year.  
His first girlfriend.  
His first boyfriend, and the happiness that followed the acceptance.  
Dane's first boyfriend.  
There's prom, where he and Dane had both managed to not get dates, and decided to go together.  
They were only going as friends, but still managed to end up platonically dancing together.  
There's graduation, and he knows what coming.  
He turn the page, and his heart wrenches so hard, he fears throwing up.  
By now, he can only hear 'We Are Young,' by F.U.N. playing in the background, and he sniffles, pathetically.  
Two weeks after graduation, was when it happened, and the proof is on the following pages.  
The note, put in the will, by his parents, as if they had known it would happen.  
He knows every word of it, them giving him their life savings.  
They gave Dane's mom the right to take in Ellis, should they die before he was eighteen.  
She, also, got the right to sort out the house, and receive and money of the profits.  
By now, the sobs are painful, and he really wishes it would stop, but Ellis doesn't know how.  
Two weeks after graduation. The guy was drunk, speeding, not paying attention.  
Nobody knew what was happening, and then it was over. Ellis was safely at home, when he got the call.  
They went to the hospital, but he knew they were dead on impact.  
He refuses to believe that they suffered.  
"Hello?"  
"D-Dane?"  
"Ellis, are you crying?"  
"I miss my parents. I want to go back, t-to that night, re-remember? In the bouncy house?"  
"Hold on, I'm coming over.  
*  
"Ellis. Hey, stop, shhhh."  
When Dane opens the door, it's a mess, there's an entire binder of papers, the contents of a pencil box scattered around, the comforter, and pillows of Ellis's bed, all on the floor.  
Ellis, himself, is a crying mess, eyes red and puffy, a picture of his mother and father clutched in his hand.  
Dane walks over, and sits on the bed, wrapping an arm around the boy, gently grabbing the picture.  
"Ellis, I need you to let go, or you're going to rip it."  
Reluctantly, the teary-eyed boy let's go, and Dane puts it in its plastic covering.  
"What happened? What triggered this?" He asks, putting the book back in the bottom drawer.  
Out of sight, out of mind, until something possesses Ellis to extract it again.  
"I-I was working on pro-jects, and Harr-ison and Ty started..." He goes quiet.  
"Th-they were really loud. I couldn't fo-cus and I thought I wasn't going to fi-nish, and then I'd have to live in my p-parent’s basement. B-but I don't have them! They're gone-" he's cut off with another round of tears, and Dane puts a protective arm around the pitiful boy, feeling him calm down, almost immediately.  
"Are you calm?" He asks after a few minutes, but the boy only snores in response.  
Dane lays the boy down, and gets up, utterly pissed.  
Ty and Harrison.  
Of course, the fucking douches. Literally.  
He stomps out, and bangs on the door across the hall, furious.  
"What, Ellis?" He hears, and it's filed with tiredness.  
"Open up, you fuckers, we need to talk, and now," He hears rushed rustling, and gets impatient.  
"Hurry up, or I will personally shove a cactus up both of your asses."  
The door opens.  
"Dane?" Harrison asks quietly. "What happened? Why are you here? It's five a.m."  
He shoves into the room, nearly slamming the door behind him, until her remembers the sleeping boy across the hall.  
"Listen up, and listen good. You two," He motions between the standing man, and the black haired one, sitting up in the disheveled bed.  
He notices the confused look covering both guy's faces, like a mask, that he's one hundred percent ready to slap off.  
"You guys need to be a hell of a lot quieter. Or go to his place. I've been here since four, when Ellis called me, in tears, because he thought he was going to fail, and the thought of his parents."  
Harrison squint, "He's never complained before."  
"Harrison, you fucking douche. He pulled out the book."  
The confusion falls, and is replaced by fear, and then pain. The man on the bed continues to get more uncomfortable and confused.  
"Exactly. And then he got depressed, and went into one of his moods. Harrison, I thought you knew better, but here I am, scolding you like a mother."  
"Ellis had depression?" Ty speaks up.  
Dane whips his head in the direction of the voice, and glares.  
"Yes, you dickwad. And anxiety."  
There's a look of utter pain, and Dane is momentarily speechless at it.  
The boy, apparently isn’t.  
"I triggered a-an attack, of some sort?"  
"Sort of," He replies, staring Harrison dead in the eyes.  
It's like Ty doesn't exist.  
His feeling for Harrison had been recognized a long time ago, when Ellis had first moved into the apartment.  
Despite his hard exterior, Harrison was a caring man, doing everything he could to help Ellis with his depression, and anxiety. Many times, had Dane walked in to see the brunette nursing Ellis back to health from a cold or fever, or just cuddling the older boy through the an episode.  
There was just something about the way the brunettes eyes softened when he saw something that he loved, or how they crinkled when he laughed, or even his bedhead.- it all got to him, made him flustered, and bluesy, and made his heart flutter.  
"Dane," Harrison mutters, and he snaps his eyes down to the floor, vaguely aware of the fact that it probably wasn't appropriate to stare for so long.  
Turning on his heel, he snaps, "Be quieter," and leaves.  
*  
"I'm sorry. For, you know, upsetting you."  
Ellis startles, quickly turning around, hand flying to his chest. There he is. The black haired boy, long white, long sleeved tee shirt covering his tall body, black boxers, bedhead, and pained sterling eyes.  
He'd managed to finish, both the paper and presentation, and get it turned in.  
His chest itches, once again, a feeling he's gotten used to feeling when he was around Ty.  
Well, until Ty had stopped coming over.  
He scratches at his chest, trying to make the feeling go away, until he realizes that he had been spoken to, and that the speaker was staring at him, intently, waiting for an answer.  
"What are you talking about," he asks, clearly confused.  
The black haired boy hadn't set foot in the house, but to hand out around Harrison, and he hadn't said a single word to Ellis.  
Until now.  
Suddenly, there are a bunch of bad thoughts, and Ellis momentarily panics.  
"I made you get depressed. I'm sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have even come over here."  
Oh. That.  
"We're going to my house from now on, so we don't bother you. I probably won't even come over, anymore. Then you won't have to deal with me."  
His heart learches.  
"So, I won't see you anymore?" He asks, turning back around. He doesn't want the other to see the pain on his face.  
"No. I didn't think you'd want to. Like, you were secretly uncomfortable, and only giving me coffee out of pity."  
He does, turn around, at this.  
"Well, I don't think that, and I do want to see you. But, apparently, I'm just a pitiful party of one. I thought we were friends, but maybe it was all just a joke? Have fun, though. I guess."  
He grabs his plate of fruit, ready to flee.  
"Sorry, for being a burden," he hisses on the way out, and almost sprints on the way back to the safety of his room.  
He leaves a very confused Ty, standing there, mouth agape.  
*  
"There's a new guy coming to the dance squad, and Blair will absolutely not shut up about him. I already hate the guy, and we've never even met. Like, shit dude, shut up already," Dane rants, angrily biting into his pizza.  
"How are you going to fit him into the new choreo. You guys have spent, like, a year, trying to perfect this, and suddenly Blair thinks a newbie is a good idea? Yikes."  
Dave nods, pointing.  
"And wasn't it like, hard to put together, and like, learn, anyway?  
Another nod.  
"Shit, good luck with that."  
Then, there's a buzz, and he pulls out his phone to see he has a new message on Snapchat.  
Hey, Ellis?  
He stares at the screen, and then looks at the user.  
Ellis blinks, thinking maybe it would go away, but when he opens his eyes, he sees that, nope, it's still there.  
Maybe it's a different Ty.  
He sets his phone down, but it's lights up, again.  
Ellis, this is Ty. I got this from Harrison.  
Fuck.  
Hi?  
He sets his phone on the table, and sees Dane staring at him.  
"Who's texting? You look constipated."  
"Just Harrison being stupid."  
Dane just shrugs and takes a bite of his pizza, again.  
When Ellis receives no reply, more than ten minutes later, he quietly sips his coke, and tells himself not to over think.  
It's really hard, he figures out.  
*  
"So, new guy is actually really, really good. Apparently, Blair sent him a video, with the choreo, and he already knows all of it. I'm impressed. Also, he's got a solo production. It's really good. He showed us."  
"Don't you have a solo, too?"  
Ellis is surprised, being that it's hard to impress Dane.  
Very hard.  
"Yeah, to Electric Love, by the BORNS."  
Ellis nods, but then remembers that he's on the phone.  
"Yeah, how long until the performance?"  
"A month. Exactly a month before your birthday."  
"Exciting."  
*  
Harrison's home for once, with Ty, and Ellis is slightly excited.  
He doesn't show it, but he's severely ecstatic at having Ty back.  
"I'm not staying, you don't have to worry."  
All that happiness becomes disappointment, as he turns around.  
"Okay..."  
"I don't want to hurt you, again. I'm sorry, for that, also." It's not said with bitterness, but hesitation.  
"I'm not a fucking China doll, Ty. I'm a grown ass man, with a job," Ellis snaps, furious.  
Harrison had been tip-toeing around him, and so had Ty, on the few occasions he had been over.  
"You don't have to treat me like I could snap or break at any moment. I'm snapping now, due to pent up emotions, that I have been harvesting since you didn't message me back."  
"I wanted to be your friend, Ty, so don't act like that's some foreign policy to you. You don't understand my past, and you won't until I tell you, and I won't tell you until I can trust you. I can't do anything, until we establish a common ground. Do you really think I don't want to be your friend? Because every time is brought up, you act like I hate you, which I most certainly do not. Do you not know what friend are? Do you only know fuck buddies, or something?"  
Ty's face falls, and Ellis's chest itches again, only not in the nice way.  
He feels like he's about to cry again.  
"I know what friends are, but nobody has ever wanted to be my friend. So. To me, I have no idea what signs people give, to indicate a friendly relationship. I'm sorry. I suck at this, but I can't help it."  
"But you do want to be my friend?"  
"Yes."  
"Well," He smiles, "then, Ty let me help you learn. Here, I am formally inviting you to a video-game-food-splurge-hangout, two days from now. Please accept?"  
"I accept, sir Ellis."


	2. Chapter 2

"The guy's really good."  
"Dane, I'm here for you, I don't really care."  
"Oh, well," He shrugs, heading for the back, "I should go get ready. Watch, I know you’ll notice him, seriously. I hope you change your mind."  
It's the exhibition, and Ellis goes to find the front row seat, next to Harrison.  
He'd invited Ty, but the taller boy had declined, offering a family thing as an excuse.  
They'd been hanging out a lot, in the past weeks, being frowned upon by both Harrison, and Dane, but Ellis didn't care.  
He doesn't care.  
He really likes Ty. He likes his black hair, that shone prettily after early morning showers, his sterling eyes that glowed with mirth, every time the grey eyes landed on Ellis.  
He still likes the taller boy's laugh, and his singing voice.  
Countless times, he had heard Ty singing in the shower, and he'd find himself swaying to the imaginary beat of the popular songs, that usually flowed through the walls.  
He loves the sweater paws Ty sports in his too long tee shirts. He loves everything about Ty.  
Really, he loves Ty.  
The thought startles him, and he physically jumps, scaring Harrison, next to him.  
"Look, it's starting."  
"Ladies and gentlemen. Our music and fine arts department have been working very hard..."  
He listens arms the host drones on with excitement, and only pays attention when the introduce Dane.  
He's the first act.  
The guitar beginning starts, and he giggles at the pure look of confidence that the younger boy's body shows.  
Ellis becomes more and more proud, as the dance ends, and is one of the many people, up and clapping.  
He can tell, though, that the boy is tired, and his chest moves up and down, harshly, as he bows. There's still forty-five minutes until his group choreography.  
The host goes through, and introduces every singer, and rapper, and dancer, with so much enthusiasm, the audience can't help but smile, too, Harrison and Ellis included.  
He check the time, and there's only fifteen until the group.  
He continues grinning, excited, but then the host begins the next introduction, and he frowns. And then he smiles again.  
Because they called out Ty's name.  
"...and he's here with Cannonball, by Kiesza. This one has a dedication not attached, specially written.  
"'This one's for that one person out in the audience. Secretly, I love you, and you probably know this, because I show you.' We'll, there you go guys. Ty Mackie, with Cannonball."  
By the end of the speech, Ellis's heart is clenched, painfully, and he looks over to see Harrison's expression. He's smiling, brightly, clearly happy, watching the velvet curtains open.  
Ty's got on white ripped jeans, and a pale pink button up, tucked in. He feels the tears build up, just a little, and he wipes them quickly.  
When Ty starts dancing, he's just as enraptured, but then he grabs the microphone, that nobody seemed to notice, and he starts to sing.  
The sparkle in the boy's eye draws him in, the way his heart beats in his chest in time to the music, and he tunes in to the words.  
"I keep falling, I keep falling for you,"  
And then there's the confession.  
"... you probably know this, because I show you."  
"...because I show you."  
With sex.  
It has to be Harrison.  
"When I try to hide from your love, I can't deny with maybe."  
His throat closes up.  
And then the songs over, and Ty looks right at Harrison.  
Harrison, still beaming, and he still doesn't look over, when Ellis starts crying.  
He realizes it time for Dane to dance again, when the host chimes, "And here's dance squad Anoesis, with Beyoncé's XO!"  
When the curtains are open, the lights stay dim, for the intro, and when they brighten, the entire team is reaching up for the sky.  
It's not even a fast song, but Ellis only seems to notice that, oh, Ty is the new member, and oh, the song is halfway over.  
He can't keep up, because in what feels like only a second, the song is over, and it's really been three minutes.  
It's all smooth, the ending, one final jump, and then it's over.  
*  
He watches the rest of the production, feeling very numb. Ellis just can't get it out of his head.  
Ty likes Harrison.  
Well, loves, but when his mind repeats that, he starts shaking, and he can't do that.  
At the end, he congratulates the entire squad, and plays it cool, face nonchalant.  
"So, did you know about Ty's confession?" He asks, when they're in the car, Ellis taking him home, to change.  
"Yeah."  
"Cool right?"  
"Who's do you think it is?" Dane questions.  
"Do you know?"  
"Yeah.  
He looks at Dane, getting out of the car.  
"Then I don't need to answer."  
It's dark, but Ellis can hear the frown in Dane's voice.  
"You don't seem too happy."  
"Of course I'm happy."  
Dane just closes the door.  
As soon as he's home, he packs a weeks’ worth of clothes, and writes a note.  
Going to Dane's for a while -Ellis.  
He grabs is keys, and heads back outside, to his car.  
*  
"Ellis?"  
"His Marion."  
Dane's mom scoffs, loudly, and pulls the boy inside of the house.  
"Where's Dane?" She asks, peaking over his shoulder.  
"You're not fighting, are you?"  
"No, I just needed a break, you know?" His voice cracks, and the woman shakes her head.  
"Well, let's go to bed, and you can explain in the morning."  
"Alright, now, what happened?" She asks handing him a mug of coffee.  
He feels nostalgia wash over him, from sitting in the kitchen when he was younger, and from his early mornings with Ty.  
"I like the guy my roommate, um..."  
"Fucks. Continue."  
"He likes Harrison."  
"So what's with my other son?" She growls.  
"He knew, and let me walk around, and fall harder."  
She gasps. "And you’re sure?"  
"I asked."  
She jumps up, and wraps her long arms around his shoulders, and kisses his head.  
"I'm sorry. I know, it's been a while since your last ex, and well, we all miss Sam and Jessi," she whispers into his hair.  
His parents.  
"Yeah, I miss them a lot," He chokes out, wrapping his arms around the woman, and thinking of Ty.  
"Let's help you forget school, and the drama, and we'll go shopping for your birthday, 'kay?"  
He nods against her shoulder.  
*  
Ellis had forgotten how good and fun it was to hand around Dane's mom, how relieving it was to leave school.  
They end up at the mall, with a couple of bags, full of chokers, and sweaters, and a new pair of vans and converse.  
After they eat, Marion takes him out to Azure, the little coffee shop across from his old high school.  
Ellis watches as Marion flirts with the man behind the counter, and realizes, she's not that old, still in her early forties.  
She has the same tan skin and blonde hair and blue eyes that Dane has. Her long hair is pulled into a pony tail, and she's got on a long sleeved plaid shirt, with jeans and boots.  
"You looked cozy with that guy. Who's he?" He comments, after ordering their hot chocolates.  
"He's the owner. Mr. Blake, a.k.a. hot guy who runs the coffee shop next door. We've got a date soon," she blushes.  
"You're finally getting back out there, huh?"  
She chuckles.  
"It's gets boring. I’m a mama bird, with an empty nest."  
He smiles. It must be good for her, too, then that he's here. Maybe Dane had been neglecting talking to her.  
*  
He only makes it through the week, before Harrison is texting him.  
hey, ty's over. Wanna come say hi?  
No not really, he texts back.  
oh, why?  
Why should I?  
nvm then.  
He frowns. Had they not gotten together yet? He shakes his head. No reason to question himself.  
"I got that new movie, the one about mars, from Redbox. Wanna watch?" Marion calls from the downstairs.  
"Yeah."  
*  
Where are you?  
It's Dane. Everyone must have figured out that he had left, and lied.  
home, he says.  
No you're no. I just asked Ty in dance, how you'd been. He told me that Harrison said you'd been at my place. We're worried, seriously, where are you.  
I'm at home.  
His phone rings with an incoming call from Dane, and he shuts his phone off, not yet ready to deal with the pain.  
*  
He stays at Marion's for another week, before the constant calls and texts start to pissed him off, and he realizes he just being a burden.  
He packs everything up, says goodbye to Marion, and heads back to his University.  
Ellis unlocks the apartment to find it empty, and he's thankful.  
But he's also disappointed. No Harrison means he's at Ty's.  
He unpacks, and looks at the time.  
Ten minutes until his first class.  
He changes, and picks out the books needed.  
Then, feeling nostalgic, he sits on the couch, and imagines Ty sitting next to him, and asking about his favorite bands, or colors, or shows.  
Looking at the time, and finding it time to go, he sighs, still not a hundred percent to go back out into the world. He feels the pain in his throat, and shallows, to try and make it go away.  
Two hours later, the house is still empty, and he sits on the couch again, this time letting the power of the lump in his throat take over.  
He cries, and falls asleep, sitting up, eyes puffy, and cheeks red.  
*  
"I see you came home."  
He turns around and see Dane, arms crossed over his chest.  
"I wanted a break," He shrugs.  
"You could've told us. It would've made us all worry less."  
"I'm a grown man, and the whole point was to get away from you guys."  
There's silence.  
"I'll talk to you later," Ellis spits, taking his plate of blueberries and strawberries, and scurried off, like a child in trouble.  
There's apartment is empty again, and Ellis is sitting on the counter, staring off into space, when Harrison and Ty barge in, kissing.  
Apparently Ty dyed his hair, because it's now blonde, and neither see him, as they push and pull each other into Harrison's room.  
Ellis doesn't move, completely frozen, and the emotions bubble over again, tears spilling, hot, like over boiling water.  
There's only a week until his birthday.  
He jumps off the counter, and takes his hurt to the couch, turning the t.v. on, on the way.  
One week.  
*  
He wakes up to a loud bang, and jumps up, throwing on an old sweat shirt.  
Hurrying out to the living room, he grabs a flash light as protection, to hit the burglar over the head.  
Instead, he finds Dane. In his underwear.  
"Dane?"  
The blond looks up from his position on the floor, a pan in hand.  
"Why are you on my floor? In your underwear? Why are you here?"  
"I slept over."  
I slept over. The blonde. Kissing.  
"What?"  
"Last night, I came home with Harrison."  
Now he confused, and his jaw drops.  
"You... and... you and Harrison?"  
"Yes, and now I'm making pancakes. Why do you have a flashlight?"  
"I-"  
"Babe, come back, I'm cold."  
Dane blushes, and Ellis lets the confusion cover his face.  
"Um, I'm making pancakes, and, uh, talking to Ellis," He calls back.  
There's no response.  
"So, you gonna explain?" Ellis deadpans.  
"We're dating," He throws out, cracking an egg into the batter, and mixing.  
"Since when?"  
"The week after you left, we'd started hanging out, to mull over your sudden disappearance, and one night we got drunk. He kisses me, and I told him I liked him, and we're a thing now."  
"Oh."  
Poor Ty. To find out the guy he likes is dating the guy’s roommates best friend, it has to be hard.  
"How's Ty?"  
"Sad."  
"I expected as much."  
Dane's head snaps up, from looking down at the fluffy, bubbling batter.  
"You 'expected' him to be sad? What the hell, Ellis? When did you become such a douche?" He snaps.  
Ellis furrows his eyebrows.  
"With Ty liking Harrison, and you dating him, of course, he's gonna be hurt."  
Dane takes his time to answer, and when he does, it's slow, and drawn out.  
"Yeah, right, I forgot. He likes Harrison."  
*  
There's a knock in the door, and Ellis goes to answer.  
"Hey."  
Oh.  
"Oh."  
It's Ty.  
He looks horrible, with dark circles under his eyes, and a very droopy smile, pasted on, as if he's trying to cover up the obvious frown he'd been wearing for a while.  
He's got on a black baggy sweater, and equally baggy joggers.  
He raises a bag, and asks, tired lyrics, "Can you give these to Harrison?"  
"Uh, sure."  
Ellis takes the bag, but the black haired boy doesn't move.  
"You want to come in? " Ellis offers.  
He can feel the tension, like a wall, separating, and he wants to take a sledge hammer to the bricks.  
"I missed you," Ty whispers, beating Ellis to the destruction of the wall, but it's quickly replaced by something that Ellis can't quite pin point, and so he knocks that one down, too.  
"Are you alright?"  
Ty shakes his head, and Ellis immediately goes over to wrap his arms around the boy, and lead them to the couch. Ty's sobs are muffled by Ellis's shoulder, and he wants to cry, himself.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
He feels a nod, but the other makes no sound, to actually try and explain.  
Secretly, he's happy, to finally have Ty back, no matter the circumstances.  
Eventually, Ellis speaks up.  
"I know it's hard, to like Harrison, while he's dating Dane."  
Ty's head snaps up, and his eyes are confused. Puffy, but confused.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Dane and Harrison are dating. I thought you knew."  
"I did. What did you mean ‘I like Harrison?’ I've known Dane liked Harrison, since before the exhibition. Me and Harrison stopped fucking then, and he'd just been coming over to talk about Dane."  
But when I was gone, he texted me..."  
"I came over to hang out, and that was me texting. We're still friends, you know."  
"Your dance?"  
"You really don't know?" Ty asks.  
Ellis shakes his head.  
"It's like a rule, for friends with benefits, that once you catch feelings, you quit. I stopped a little late, but when I realized Dane liked Harrison, there was an even bigger reason to quit. It really hurt when you stopped talking to me. I thought I'd done something wrong. I was so confused."  
"I'm confused," Ellis shakes his head.  
"I like you."  
He smiles tiredly.  
"Oh. I was sad, because I realized the day of the exhibition, I was like woah, I like everything about him, this must mean something. Dane said he knew, and Harrison was smiling, and I took everything so wrong. I really like you, too," He confesses.  
"Oh."  
"It's my birthday, you know."  
"Yeah?"  
"Do I get a gift?"  
Ty looks down, having sat up, earlier in the conversation.  
Ellis looks up, and they're inches away, breathing the same air.  
Their lips connect, and he smiles, and it makes Ty smile.  
They pull apart, laughing, happily.  
"We are so stupid."  
"Let's watch a movie," Ellis nods.  
Ty laughs, and picks up the remote.  
*  
They're sleeping when Harrison and Dane sneak in.  
Dane starts snapping pictures of the way they're holding hands, and the way Ellis seems so much smaller, with his head on the taller boy's chest.  
"Look, they got together."  
"And pretty soon, they'll leave the nest, and you'll be a lonely mother bird, and I'll make you not lonely. Come on, Dane, let's let the kids sleep," Harrison smiles, rolling his eyes, and dragging Dane back to his room, to snuggle, all the same.


End file.
